Rutgers has life.
The Scarlet Knights breathed new hope into a season on the verge of going off the rails late Tuesday night, defeating Clemson 74-64 at Jersey Mike’s Arena to win their ACC/Big Ten Challenge meeting, improve to 4-3 on the season and kill some of the doom-and-gloom feeling around the program after its abysmal start to the year.
The victory snaps a 3-game losing streak to sub-100 KenPom teams DePaul, Lafayette and UMass, prevents Rutgers from holding a losing record for the first time since the 2018-19 season and gives the Scarlet Knights some much-needed momentum heading into its first Big Ten games of the season in the next week.
The contest went back-and-forth from the start, with a first half that featured eight ties and six lead changes. After Clemson clawed back from an early 6-0 deficit, the teams stayed within one possession of each other until the final four minutes of the half, when Rutgers went on a 13-3 run to take an 8-point halftime lead.
Rutgers took its first double-digit lead of the game right after the break, with senior forward Ron Harper Jr. throwing down a thunderous dunk over two defenders and getting fouled in the process. He made the ensuing free throw to give Rutgers a game-high 11-point lead.
Clemson dwindled that lead down to 1 points with 12:24 to play thanks to a 13-4 run, but Rutgers punched back via back-to-back 3-pointers from Harper, who finished with a game-high 23 points. Clemson would not come within a possession from there as the Scarlet Knights held the Tigers at arms length for the final 10 minutes.
Second-year center Cliff Omoruyi put the exclamation mark on the vital victory on a night they were without senior guard Geo Baker once again with an alley-oop dunk off of a pass from Harper with just over two minutes remaining.
Here are five observations from Rutgers’ win over Clemson:
Rutgers got some 3-point luck thanks to hard defensive work
After watching UMass shoot 50% on 16 three-pointers -- 12% over its already-high season average of 38% -- the Scarlet Knights got some 3-point luck in the other direction. Clemson, who entered the day ranked third nationally in 3-point percentage at 44.1%, shot 21% on 19 attempts from deep, by far its lowest 3-point percentage in a game this season.
Much of that luck came thanks to swarming perimeter defense from the Scarlet Knights, who had struggled to in that area leading up to Tuesday. The Tigers missed a handful of open looks, sure, but Rutgers constantly fighting over screens and closing out hard on shooters played into that by rattling the Tigers.
All-Big Ten level Ron Harper Jr. comes up huge
The senior forward disappeared in the second half of Saturday’s loss to Clemson, scoring 0 points and committing a killer foul in the final minute as the Minutemen erased a 17-point second-half deficit.
He made up for it in a major way on Tuesday. Harper scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, hitting back-to-back threes in a crucial stretch where Clemson was chipping away at the Scarlet Knights lead with 10 minutes to play.
For Rutgers to win the way it is built to play -- playing above-average-to-elite defense while doing just enough offensively -- Rutgers needs this version of Ron Harper Jr. to show up. The proof was evident on Tuesday night, when he showed the all Big-Ten caliber player he could be at his best.
Rutgers made just enough shots
Clemson’s plan seemed simple: keep Rutgers outside of the paint and force the Scarlet Knights to beat them from the perimeter. It is a solid plan considering Rutgers shot 24.1% on 3-pointers entering the day; only nine teams entered the day with a worse clip.
The plan backfired. The Scarlet Knights shot a respectable 36% (7/19) from deep. It made up for a less-than-optimal 15-of-26 (57.7%) finish from the free throw line.
Jalen Miller makes his entrance
The freshman guard made his career debut on Tuesday, checking in for Mulcahy with 12:46 remaining in the first half. He showed the defensive intensity that earned him some buzz in the preseason, picking up Al-Amir Dawes full court and sticking to him. And though he scored his first career bucket in the final minute of the game, he could not replicate his defensive success on the offensive end, but that comes with time. For his first career game, Miller did not stick out like a sore thumb, so he did his job.
Rutgers takes a necessary first step towards turning the ship around
The Scarlet Knights needed this game for any hopes of resurrecting their season and bolstering a weak resume after a pitiful start to the season.
Now that they got it, the next step is putting their best foot forward in Big Ten play in Champaign against Illinois on Friday. A winning record in conference play is likely needed to have a shot at digging out of the hole they’re in and earn a second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid, but this likely Quad 1 win over Clemson takes some significant pressure off of Rutgers. Beyond putting it back in the win column, it prevents what would have been another catastrophic loss in a season already full of them.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust.
Brian Fonseca may be reached at [email protected].